“Dammit.” She sucked in a breath, and he jerked back, catching the tears filling her eyes from pain.
“Sorry, sweet girl.” He reached up and cupped the back of her head in his hand, gently massaging the area around the bump. “You okay?”
She slid a tongue over her now puffy lips and nodded, those hazel eyes wide and hazy with desire as she studied him.
“Did that feel like you’re some charity case to me?” he asked, stroking her cheek with his knuckles. “Like I didn’t want you with a desperation?”
“No.”
Her eyes were glassy, but her expression had softened, and he liked the dreamy look on her face, knowing he’d put it there.
“I don’t understand what’s happening between us,” she murmured.
Join the club, he thought. All he knew was that in the twenty-four hours they’d been apart, he couldn’t stop thinking about her, wondering how she was doing, if she was thinking about him too. Quite a change from the guy who’d had to have his arm twisted to face her and their shared past.
“How about you quit overthinking things and just … be?” And he’d do the same.
She hesitated, then finally nodded. “I’ll try.”
He’d take it, he thought and grinned. “Good. Now what’s for dinner?”
She smiled, seemingly taking his advice to just let things between them happen naturally.
“Sushi from the market, but I only brought enough for me.”
He shrugged, unconcerned. “That’s what delivery is for.”
Satisfied he’d broken through her walls, at least for now
, he turned his attention to food. He ordered in Chinese in addition to the sushi and instead of eating in the kitchen, they settled in around the low table in the living room.
“So what did you do today?” he asked, pushing the last container of moo shu pork aside.
“Made all the calls to replace my stolen credit cards, hit up motor vehicles, replaced my cell—”
“Thank God,” he muttered. “At least now I can reach you.”
She smiled shyly, and he liked knowing he had the power to affect her emotionally as well as physically.
“Then I went by the hospital to see the kids. I felt bad my gifts were stolen, so I picked up beads and other things at the Dollar Store instead.”
“You’re amazing with those kids,” he said, unable to hide his admiration.
When Avery had been in the hospital donating her bone marrow, seeing all those sick people had made him uncomfortable. He’d never thought about it after that except when he’d finally gotten to know Sienna, his half-sister, who’d been the recipient. Only then had he realized how lucky they all were she’d survived. But he hadn’t been driven to volunteer or give back the way Avery and Ella did. For someone who wasn’t given much in the way of love or emotion, Ella gave back selflessly, making him want to show her what it was like to be on the other side. He wanted to give to her and plug the doubts that always seemed to plague her.
She shrugged. “They make it easy. They just want to be loved and get healthy.” She rose to her feet and began collecting the dishes.
“I’ve got that. Why don’t you relax while I finish up? You’ve had a long day.”
“I can help. It’s just a bump on the head, and I’m getting better,” she insisted.
He stood, pleased he towered over her so he could make his point with an advantage. “Sit. Rest. And let me do this for you. My mother didn’t raise any slackers.” He winked at her as he spoke.
And at the mention of his mom, an amused grin lifted her lips. “True enough. You know, she’s the closest thing to a mom I’ve got,” she said, lowering herself back onto the floor and curling her legs beneath her.
His heart squeezed at the admission. “I know your mom passed away when you were little,” he said.
“Yeah. She died of a stroke when I was five,” she said softly.